It's the ball that does the talking!

“Hola Messi! Buenos días!” I shouted. A smile returned from the other side. For a nano second,
it seemed, he paused. Were my eyes seeing things? But, lest I could wish, tenga un gran partido hoy (have a great match today), the legend was gone — in step with his team for lunch.

It was 10 past 12 on Friday and my day was made.

I heard a whisper from behind with a tap on my back: “Es muy tímido (he is very shy).” That was Martin Castilla, a journalist from La Nacion, a newspaper published from Buenos Aires. Besides being one of the most renowned football reporters, Martin has something unique to his credit. He was the first journalist to interview Lionel Messi — when Messi was no one.

“Messi no necesita hablar (Messi needn’t talk). La bola lo hace departe de él (the ball does it for him),” Martin paused as we began discussing his experience of seeing the under-17 footballer turning into a legend.

It was 2004, when Hugo Tocalli, who was then assisting Jose Pekerman, coach of the junior Argentina team, first told Martin about the young Messi. “He couldn’t believe that someone from the Press had come to interview him,” Martin said, recollecting the day he met the teenager at the Argentina Football Association headquarters at Ezeiza in Buenos Aires.

“His movements with the ball were amazing. He had that ‘crack’ factor in his game,” said Martin. One can’t help wondering what makes Messi so special in a land of legends like the Great Diego Maradona. “Messi is more a Barça guy. He is giving his best to the club that helped him become what he is today,” Martin referred to the support that Barcelona extended to Messi for his treatment with a hormonal problem. “If Messi is still the guy-next-door, Maradona can only be worshipped from far.”

As we stepped out of the hotel, we saw a large crowd in front of the Salt Lake stadium. Tickets were being sold at a high premium and passersby were asking each other if there could be a spare ticket to the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. “The entire city is covered with posters of Messi. It’s awesome!” Martin was visibly astounded.

“What is Messi’s view on Kolkata?” I couldn’t restrain my curiosity. “I feel really sorry for him,” Martin said. “Él es muy popular para salir a tomar el pulso (he is too popular to step out of the hotel to feel the pulse of the city).”

Somewhere there was a tinge of sadness. Imagine a 24-year-old confined to his hotel room because the world-wide fame and super-stardom demands it, while a world outside goes delirious: “Messi! Messi!”